I’d heard on a podcast that it was good for couples to do “novel activities” together.
On another podcast came the comment that Landmark Theatres were far superior to the more dominant Cineplex ones. We have a Landmark Theatre close by.
In the newspaper, I’d read how Aziz Ansari had fought to have his new movie get a theatrical release. And that he’d cast a bunch of Canadian actors in it, albeit not because they were Canadian.
On the shared calendar, I saw that we had an opening Monday afternoon.
Hence Jean and I found ourselves at Landmark Cinemas for a matinee showing of Good Fortune.
Now, by this point the movie had been out for about four weeks and it was, you know, Monday afternoon. So this wasn’t a true “watching with a crowd” experience, given that there were only about two other people in attendance. But—notwithstanding our having gone to see a physics documentary at the Princess Cinema last month—it had been so long since we’d gone to a chain theatre, this seemed to qualify as a “novel” experience.
Plus, you know, Monday afternoon! On a non-holiday! Novel!
The Landmark was nice. We sprung for a few extra bucks to sit in the premium seats with recliners, heaters, a coat hook, and such. The screen was big. The movie was high definition. The sound was surround.
And the story was entertaining. The trailer is a pretty accurate synopsis: Arj, played by Ansari, is trying to stay afloat with part-time and “gig economy” jobs—and not entirely succeeding. He captures the attention of Gabriel, an angel played by Keanu Reeves, who longs to make bigger gestures than saving people from texting and driving. Though advised against it by his supervisor, Gabriel tries to show Arj that money wouldn’t solve all his problems by having him trade places with Jeff, played by Seth Rogen, a wealthy “tech bro” that Arj has been doing errands for. Only Arj very much enjoys living Jeff’s life and doesn’t particularly want to go back, setting off a chain of cosmic chaos.
It’s quite funny, it moves at a good clip (it’s about 90 minutes long), and it has a strong cast. It is pretty delightful seeing Keanu Reeves as a “budget angel”.
But, it’s kind of excruciating sitting through the struggles of Arj, and then Jeff, and also romantic foil Elena (played by Keke Palmer), working so hard for so little while Jeff, and then Arj, live in such leisure, comfort, and luxury. Because it is so true. And because I know which side of that spectrum I’m closer to (sitting in my premium seat, on a Monday afternoon).
Warning that I’m about to be a little spoilery about the ending…
I’d sometimes feel a little prickly when people would ask what I planned to do when I retired. For one thing, how do I know, really, until I actually have that extra 37.5 hours per week? For another thing, I figured some of the things I expected I’d be doing wouldn’t sound interesting to other people.
Some things I’ve done:
Made a tiny apple pie (just as much work as a full-size pie, fyi)
Tried out Jean’s ebike to see whether I like certain features for myself
Finally switched out my Windows 10 PC for a Windows 11 one
Researched a suitable cat food substitute for a flavor that’s been discontinued
Are you not entertained?
I have a habit of overthinking regardless, but I hadn’t quite realized that so many things could be re-thought. Like, what time should I set the alarm? Does doing groceries once a week still make sense? How long should my workouts be? Do I have French press coffee every day now? (Answers so far: I’ll try adjusting it every three weeks or so to roughly match sunrise; no, every six days works better; slightly longer than before, unless I’m too busy or tired that day; and no, on busier mornings I’ll go with filtered coffee.)
We aren’t planning a big trip yet; just some small trips.
But, I have done a few local things that are more interesting to describe.
Fun with physics
Waterloo is home to the Perimeter Institute (PI) for Theoretical Physics, which Jean likes to take pictures of. They periodically have free public lectures. I hadn’t been in years, but decided to sign up for one called “How the Universe Ends”, by Dr. Katie Mack, both because that sounded interesting, and because I follow Dr. Mack on Bluesky (where she’s astrokatie), and I think she’s cool.
Not a recent shot of the Perimeter Institute; it’s been quite nice and warm here lately!
The talks are now held at the nearby Centre for International Governance rather than at PI, which allows for more attendants. They also livestream them. Nevertheless, the event was still sold out.
It’s always mind-blowing (for me, anyway) to be reminded that our planet is just one of several big rocks rotating around one star among billions of stars in one galaxy among billions of galaxies that comprise an ever-expanding universe—and we’re not sure whether there’s only one of those.
The talk wasn’t about when and how the Earth will end (as that isn’t too much of a mystery), but the universe. There are several theories about that. Dr. Mack outlined four of them, all in a very entertaining fashion. (And for public health fans wondering, yes, she gave her talk while wearing an N95 mask.)
About a week after that, Jean and I went to the Princess Cinema to see a free movie sponsored by PI that Dr. Mack had mentioned in her talk: Particle Fever. This documentary was about the development of the Hadron Collider, which led to the discovery of the Bose Hickson particle. That might sound dry, but in fact, it was so fascinating! Even the woman introducing it (who was from PI, I assume?) commented that she was so surprised how good this movie was.
We knew that two people were going to be available to take questions afterward, but I hadn’t realized that the two people would be the film director and one of the physicists featured in the documentary. (I had thought it would just be generic physicists from PI.) Getting their insights into the making of this film was really cool as well. It took four years and, going in, they had no idea if the Collider would even work and, if it did, what it might uncover. The Hickson particle was discovered three years into filming, requiring a complete re-edit of the whole thing and another year of footage.
Feeding the world
Or, feeding a few beings in my little corner of the world, anyway.
I’m still doing cat shelter volunteering, at slightly increased frequency, though I haven’t picked a regular day per week, preferring to select based on what else is going on that week crossed with when they seem to need people most. Going there more often makes it easier to keep up with the kitty population and any changes in the care routine. I’m also getting to know a few of the other volunteers.
In the foreground is Shawnie, my little buddy. She used to be considered un-adoptable as she was so grouchy. Turns out she just had really sore teeth. Now she’s toothless and an absolute sweetheart.
Of course we didn’t like the tariffs, but it was really the 51st state / Governor Trudeau / not a real country / artificial line / not needing anything we have / US is subsidizing us talk that really pissed everyone off. It produced that very rare occurrence: an actually effective consumer boycott. Travel to the US really is down. So are California wine sales. And businesses relying on cross-border shoppers.
It’s a bit sad, as it’s not actually the hotels and restaurants, the vintners, and the duty-free shop owners that we have a beef with.
But what’s a foreigner to do? We don’t have a vote to grant or withhold. We’re not allowed to make political donations. It’s not exactly safe to go over there and protest. And I’m not feeling this is an administration that would be moved by a sternly worded letter.
So, we got our wallets. It’s economic warfare, and many are choosing to direct our meagre funds to products made elsewhere than the United States. Ideally in Canada.
I’m hardly perfect at it, but you do what you can. Since I’m not in this by myself, it’s not only up to me! And it turns out more is accomplished when we come together as a group to work together toward the same goal. Seems there could be some kind of lesson there…
In the meantime, I have discovered some great Canadian products. And I will share! In my favourite categories: food and entertainment.
Cherry juice is very delicious and apparently also a good anti-inflammatory. Black River brand is made with 100% Ontario cherries. It is a little expensive and somewhat caloric. But both problems are solved by serving it diluted with water, which is still delicious, but makes it cheaper and lower cal per serving.
Also worth mentioning (though I discovered it a while ago): Heartwood sour cherry sparkle, another delicious beverage made with Ontario cherries, this one already diluted with sparkling water. 50 calories a can.
I wrote earlier about not yet having found a good non-dairy yogurt, but this is it—as long as you don’t mind a mild taste of coconut. It’s made in British Columbia and has only four ingredient, one of which is gut-friendly probiotics.
Some jars are just a nightmare to open, and Jean’s not always around to help. So he bought me this metal gizmo, which hooks and releases the seal. He also got me a rubber gripper thingie (made in England). With that combo, I can open jars with ease.
The first week of not buying American was tough in the lettuce aisle, because there seemed to be nothing but California lettuce. Over the next few weeks, though, more and more GoodLeaf Greens became available. These are grown in greenhouses in Southern Ontario. The stay-fresh packaging is really fantastic, and this stuff is good!
Arts and entertainment
I have most definitely have not given up all American TV shows and movies and books (and streaming services). But, I have recently consumed some good Canadian media as well…
This Québec series, available on Crave, is just a stunner. It’s one of my favourite shows right now. (Jean loves it also.)
Suzanne, a former criminologist turned psychiatrist, starts a new job at the Mont-Royal Psychiatric Institute, where she meets Mortimer, an intriguing intervention officer with whom she strikes up a friendship, and fascinating patients.
Right in the first episode, as we segue from Suzanne’s private to professional life, expectations and assumptions are upended. It only gets more fascinating as more of her past is revealed, and learn more and more about her troubled patients and dedicated but flawed coworkers.
The scenery is the main stunner in this CBC Gem / Netflix series, which was filmed in Inuktitut. But it’s also fun watching Siaja try to make more of her life than being a wife and mother. You can’t help but cheer her on. It is a comedy, but there are some heavy moments as well. Nothing you shouldn’t be able to handle.
This CBC Gem series might not be for everyone. It’s a comedy in which two women of very different characters and slightly different stages of life are forced to work together to make a podcast. It’s particularly notable for its very open depiction of perimenopausal and menopausal symptoms. It’s funny and very feminist and I wish it had been available when I was first navigating the mysteries of perimenopause.
Yes, that Fall on Your Knees, the Anne-Marie McDonald novel, set mostly in Cape Breton, first published way back in 1996. I have just finished reading that now.
I had avoided it partly because it’s quite long, but more because I thought it would be super depressing. Turns out, it’s not particularly depressing. Admittedly, a lot of pretty terrible things happen. It takes place in the past (late 19th and early 20th centuries), when things weren’t so great for women (unlike now, haha).
But for the characters, things just are as they are, and they have to cope, without falling into despair (although that happens on occasion). More often, though, they find original and often terribly misguided ways of dealing. It’s so interesting! I just found myself pulled along and wanting to continue reading, so the length wasn’t much of a problem, either.
The novel starts with the meeting of James, the piano tuner, and Materia, the daughter of one of the piano owners. Their ill-advised marriage sets all subsequent events in motion, and the novel continues through the lives of their daughters and grandchildren.
This is a road movie, based on a true story. It takes place in 1970, when things weren’t so great for LBGTQ+ people (unlike now, haha). Following his father’s funeral, a plumber from a small town in New Brunswick has to drive to the big city of Toronto to get his brother out of jail, after he’s been arrested for public indecency. Their mother insists that he bring his brother back home.
Some funny and some rather harrowing moments ensue. The movie stars the wonderful (despite not being Canadian) Alan Cumming and the also very good (and probably Canadian) Charlie Creed-Miles. It’s available to stream on Crave.
Two days before we were supposed to head north, Jean’s work car was struck by a flying tire on the 401, a major Ontario highway. This was both unlucky and lucky.
Unlucky: Getting struck by a flying tire
Lucky: Sustaining no personal injuries
Unlucky: Having to wait hours for a tow because of the location of the incident
Lucky: Was not a car we own, so ultimately not our expense nor responsibility
Handing off this responsibility did consume much of Jean’s next day after he was finally towed back home… Getting the police report in, getting the car towed the car elsewhere, etc.
But, we were able to leave as planned in our car the day after that. Automobile was chosen as the method of transportation this year because Air Canada’s fares have basically doubled, so even the “lower fare” period of early December wasn’t all that low.
It’s a long drive. We broke it up by stopping in to visit with Jean’s sister who lives in Sudbury, which was very nice. We also briefly saw one of Jean’s nieces, who is currently residing there while she plays for the local hockey team (and goes to school!).
Not Jean’s niece. She’s somewhat older than these girls. But we didn’t take a lot of photos on this trip. This photo is by Oleksandr P on Pexels.com
The roads were mostly good, though we did get some blowy, slightly slippery snow near the end. We made it to Dad’s all right. Dad has just turned 89 and is still living on his own. He had a nice dinner prepared for us.
We then had two full days there, during which we managed to pack in a good amount of visiting:
We went over to see Jean’s other sister, catching up on family news over tea.
Jean met up with his brothers and most of their wives at a local restaurant.
A visit with old friends was a bit uncertain, as she was navigating her father through the hospital system. But he was discharged to his nursing home in time for us to be able to meet, which was great.
My brother, his girlfriend, and my nephew came over for a birthday dinner (both my brother and father celebrate around this time), which was jolly good fun.
We also got out cross-country skiing for the first time in years. We have some photographic evidence of that!
The trails here are amazing. We did 5 km.The trees looked beautiful all along. Winter wonderland.No, it’s not named after me. But it is named after my parents, who have put in hours and hours of volunteer work here over the years.
The drive back went reasonably well also. Some slightly slick roads at the start, then a few somewhat intense flurries at the end, but we made it home without a bang.
Jean said that he felt as though he’d already had Christmas.
Without meaning to, we went through a series of movies about couples (before breaking the spell with Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which is very sweet, and not in a bad way): You Hurt My Feelings, Anatomy of a Fall, Simple comme Sylvain / The Nature of Love, and Past Lives. These are the key questions each one seems to address.
You Hurt My Feelings
Is honesty the best policy?
The least artsy of this collection of movies, I suppose, it centres on a happily married couple, Beth and Don, whose relationship is shook when she overhears him honestly tell his brother-in-law that he didn’t like her novel, which is still working its way toward publication. Things become tense and initially, Don has no idea why.
Beth and Don are also having work struggles: Don is a psychiatrist with some unhappy clients, who feel that he hasn’t really helped them. Beth is stunned to discover that the students in her small writing class not only hadn’t read her previous book; they didn’t even know she’d written one. And their son is wilting under the pressure of their expectations, and is angry about it.
So yeah, it’s a movie about relatively privileged people and their relatively minor personal problems. But it’s snappily written, funny, and very well cast, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies as the lead characters. Jean and I both enjoyed it.
As to the question… Well, in life, as in the movie, sometimes you do want to blunt your honesty in order to be encouraging. But it can go too far. At a certain point, a relationship should be strong enough to handle the truth that you don’t, in fact, appreciate those V-neck sweaters you’ve been gifted with every year.
Anatomy of a Fall
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?
OK, the question is from Hamilton, but it still seems apropos for this movie. The husband and father, Samuel, dies at the start of it, from falling out of his office window. His wife Sandra is the only one home at time. Their partly sighted son Daniel is the one who comes across the body, after a walk with his dog. We, the audience, don’t see what caused the fall.
Sandra lives, Samuel dies, but who tells the story? Initially, Sandra, mostly, as she’s trying to defend herself against an accusation of murder. Daniel also participates, and in doing so, realizes that he has decide what he believes is the truth about what he heard. But in one of the movies many twists—the nature of which I won’t reveal—even Samuel is able to give some input as to his state of mind at the time.
This was a fascinating one, and I came to my own conclusions about what I believed happened—but not because the movie spoon-fed them to me. The facts remain ambiguous to the end, a fact Jean found deeply unsettling.
Simple comme Sylvain / The Nature of Love
Do opposites attract?
Sometimes, for sure, and this movie, the most popular Québecois film of 2023, presents one such case. Sophia, a philosophy professor, is in a comfortable but staid long-term relationship with another professor when she meets Sylvain, a handsome craftsman hired to do some renovations on her country home. Sophia and Sylvain’s attraction is quick and deep and soon consummated. And consummated again. And again.
Though she initially tells herself it will just be a fling, ending things proves harder than expected and Sophia starts to wonder about the possibility of a long-term relationship with Sylvain. But they are very different, in education, background, wealth, interests… Each phase of their relationship is punctuated by a section of Sophia’s lecture in the course she’s giving about the nature of love (philosophically speaking).
That structure made me think of Le déclin de l’empire américain, though this film, directed by Monia Chokry, definitely has its own strong vision. Jean and I were both drawn in, and he was better at predicting how things would turn out. Fun fact: This movie beat Oppenheimer as Best Foreign Film at the César Awards in France.
Past Lives
Do you ever really get over your first love?
Easy question; of course you don’t! But few people have the trajectory with their first love as the one followed in this film. Nora and Hae Sung are childhood friends in South Korea. Nora’s mom, wanting her to have good memories of South Korea before the family immigrates to Canada, arranges for them to go on a “date”, the apex of which is them holding hands.
But with her family’s pending departure, the two friends are separated before any true, mature romance can bloom. Years later, though, they find one another on Facebook. The sparks still seem to be there, but so is the distance…
By the time Nora and Hae Sung finally do meet again, in New York, Nora is married to Arthur, a perfectly decent guy who is a good sport about the whole thing.
This is a very low-key, gentle movie—too understated for Jean, who gave up partway through. But I quite enjoyed this exploration of the paths not taken, of the forces beyond your control, and what you do with that knowledge. It was lovely.
“I’d almost forgotten what that was like”, Jean commented, as we exited the Registry Theatre after a Larry Larson’s Jazz Guys concert. And by that, he met a live musical performance of any kind.
We’d intended to attend many a live musical performance over these past and coming months, but then the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony suddenly and apparently irrevocably went bankrupt—a mere week before what would have been their first concert of the season. Our season’s tickets for various performances, from Bolero to Magic! to Back to the Future to Shostakovitch, suddenly longer worth nothing more than a tax receipt.
There are efforts underway to try to revive the local arts scene, but who knows. Government funding is tight all around. The Globe and Mail has been covering the problems that theatre companies have been experiencing right across the country (🎁 article link). Mirvish is doing fine, but others are not. I suppose the lack of audience return is due to combination of people having become increasingly accustomed to home entertainment; inflation lowering budgetary for spending on discretionary events; and some remaining concern about the health risks of crowded spaces.
But for us, at least this year, it was just mainly that the Symphony disappeared. And we’ve had trouble finding appealing alternatives. It’s been some time since we’ve been out anywhere.
February has seemed virtually packed with arts activities, comparatively speaking.
I really didn’t write about movies much this year, but I did see some, so let’s catch up…
In theatres
We most recently (on Boxing Day) saw The Holdovers—appropriate timing, as the movie does take place at Christmas. It’s a story about a boy’s boarding school where a few students, “the holdovers”, are not able to go home at Christmas. One teacher, played by Paul Giamatti, is tasked with watching over them.
The movie is directed by Alexander Payne, who also directed Sideways, which also starred Paul Giamatti. It’s similar to that movie only in that it’s also a character-driven story focused on male relationships. I did enjoy it, even though it didn’t particularly pass the Bechdel Test. Jean liked it well enough also, though he prefers plot-driven movies.
I’ve gathered up some bits of wisdom of late that I’d like to share.
First up, how to…
…Figure out what streaming service a particular show is on
Netflix, Apple TV, Disney+, Prime, Crave, Tubi, CBC Gem… It’s nuts. So many services! I don’t subscribe to them all, but enough to make it hard to remember what’s where.
It’s even more confusing for Canadians, since US media will tell us a show is on a service we don’t have in this country (Hulu, Peacock, HBO+)—but that doesn’t always mean we can’t get it on a service we do have. Even more confusing, just because it’s on an American version of a service we have (like Netflix or Prime) doesn’t mean it’s also on the Canadian one. Could be on some other service entirely here.
This is why I love the JustWatch app. You select the streaming services you have access to and it serves up what’s on each. You can set up a Watchlist of every TV show or movie you’re currently watching, or plan to watch, and have one-page look of everything you’re currently caring about. You can mark off episodes or movies as you watch them. It will notify you when new episodes or a new season become available. And it has a pretty good recommendation engine if you need more to watch.
Of course, you can also use it to look up some show you’ve heard about, to find out if it is available to you at all, and if so, where.
…Watch Poker Face
Solid as I generally find the JustWatch app to be, one thing it doesn’t quite get is conventional cable. Particularly when it behaves unconventionally.
I’ll blame Gus the cat for my slowness in getting into any kind of Christmas spirit this year. A few weeks after his pretty speed recovery from the injury above his eye, he suddenly come down with something… He stopped eating, grooming, or doing anything other than shuffling uncomfortably from one sleeping spot to another. It was a weekend, and the vet was open only for supplies, not medical appointments. They suggested taking Gus to the emergency veterinary hospital.
There he got tested for everything imaginable. He had some neurological symptoms—asymmetrical eye pupils, inconsistent results on the “knuckling” test—and few slightly abnormal results on the blood test. Could be infection, could be tumors… He was admitted and hydrated, appetite stimulated, given pain killers, and started on antibiotics. I went home to fret.
Gus responded quite well to the various ministrations, though, and we were able to take him home the next day. He seemed pretty good from that point, though lower energy, and with the uneven pupils persisting a while. We continued the antibiotics for seven days, and a few days later, the eyes improved, the energy back. I brought him in for a final check from our vet, who found that all seemed good, except for the eye on the injured side looking a little irritated.
Gus feeling better
So she suggested a week of twice daily eye drops. Gus was much better about letting us give him those than we expected. What seemed much more upsetting to him was if we had to chase him down first; he’d sometimes hide for hours afterwards. So we took to surprising him with eye drops. Those done, he continued to seem quite fine.
Jean was complaining that I hadn’t posted anything in ever-so-long—which is kind of true. I’m off for some Christmas vacation time now, so possibly a few posts will be forthcoming. I’ll start here, though, not because it’s most urgent or relevant, but just that it should be good for warming up the writing muscles.
Early in December, we left our house to go to the cinema and see a movie in person! Now, unlike some people, we have done this on a few occasions in these After Times. But I had not realized quite how long it had been since we had visited the Princess Cinema. So long that our membership cards had expired—in July.
We decided that a new membership was probably not a wise investment, even though you only have to see something like three movies a year to make it worthwhile. We just paid the non-member price to see The Menu.
The Menu begins with a small group of people waiting to board a boat to a highly exclusive restaurant on an island. At the centre are Margot, played by Anya Taylor-Joy of Queen’s Gambit fame, and her date Tyler (Nicholas Hoult). Margot wonders how the restaurant can be profitable with such a small clientele. “$1,250 a person” replies Tyler. Margot is stunned, but since it’s on Tyler’s dime, is game to go along.
Not being a devotee of the “foodie” scene, however, Margot finds the serving rituals and staff manner rather odd. To someone who does do the “foodie” thing on occasion (albeit not at $1,250 a pop), the emphasis on freshness and regionality (when the clients arrive, staff are literally fishing for the scallops to be served later), the open kitchen and extensive table settings, and the elaborate presentation of each course is kind of familiar—but in this movie, also a bit strange. The staff is so disciplined. The rules of dining are so strict. And aren’t locked doors a fire hazard?
And the bread course? I don’t want to spoil what happens there, but while kind of weird and off-putting, it also seems, maybe, possible?
But as hinted in the trailer, the movie then moves on from the merely strange to… rather horrifying. (No soylent green, though!) For the squeamish, I would say, that while there is violence, it was nothing I couldn’t handle—and I’m pretty squeamish. Though I possibly did close my eyes at one moment…
Class issues definitely come up, particularly centred on Margot, the one client in a different socioeconomic class than everyone else there.
And through all this, the movie remains pretty funny. You’re never lulled into thinking it’s a documentary. “Dark comedy”, they say. I guess that’s a good descriptor.
I found it all pretty riveting, from the mocking of foodie culture, to the dark turn, to the various plot twists. Jean was never bored, but he wasn’t sure until if he actually liked the movie. But finally concluded that he did (though he was also left wondering if he should feel guilty about love of fine dining).
I think it would definitely appeal to other foodies, to horror fans, to fans of dark comedies, or those who appreciate movies with originality.
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